A Funeral Mass is NOT a Celebration of the Life of the Deceased

06-23-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Leonard F. Villa

Sad to say strange things, sometimes non-Catholic things, are increasingly said at Catholic funeral Masses today sometimes by clergy and sometimes by laity in a eulogy. Clergy proclaim erroneously that the deceased is in Heaven so that the funeral Mass is used as a canonization ceremony or a eulogy proclaims the whole Mass is a eulogy celebrating the life of the deceased. The funeral Mass, or for that matter, any Mass is not a human celebration of us but the supreme and perfect worship of God through Jesus Christ offering Himself on our behalf as Priest, Offering, and Altar.

It is the worship of Heaven joined to earth. The intention of the funeral Mass is to pray for the purification of the soul of the deceased, if they are in need of this and for consolation for the bereaved. If in fact, the person is already in Heaven, then God will use the benefits of the Mass for someone else in the Body of Christ. Recall that the Church exists in Heaven, the Church triumphant, the Church in Purgatory: souls being purified, and the Church on earth, the fighting Church against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

At the trial of St. Joan of Arc, in 1431, the prosecutor Jean Beaupere asked her: Do you know if you are in the grace of God? Joan replied: If I am not there, may God put me there; and if I am there, may God keep me there. A modern French lawyer commented: Her remarks left the Court in stunned silence. It was an astute, theologically-correct response from an unlettered woman. Only God has absolute certainty about the state of any person’s soul. Hence while people may believe in their minds sincerely that someone’s in Heaven only God could know that and we should continue to pray for that person to assist them in the purification of their love of God. More on that follows below.

Back in 1979 the Holy See issued a letter because of what was being said at funeral Masses. It noted: The Church excludes every way of thinking or speaking that would render meaningless or unintelligible her prayers, her funeral rites and the religious acts offered for the dead. All these are, in their substance, loci theologici. (emphasis added) Loci theologici (theological places) are sources for Catholic belief, the highest being Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, that which was handed over to us from the Apostles.

A big part of the crisis is the trivialization of sin, which is sometimes portrayed as breaking rules. Sin is not about breaking rules. It is a disintegrating factor in our humanity, cracks in our humanity which make us less the person God created us to be. Christ and His sacraments are the medicine to heal these cracks in our humanity to introduce order where there was disorder. Each person receives his/her eternal retribution in his/her immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his/her life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven –through a purification, or immediate and everlasting damnation. CCC #1022. Those who die in God’s grace and friendship AND are perfectly purified live forever with Christ in the life of heaven. Those who die in God’s grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified will go to heaven after they have undergone the purification of Purgatory.

St. John of the Cross reminds us: At the end you will be examined on your love. Strive to love as God desires to be loved and abandon your present state. (Dichos,Sayings, #59) How does God desire to be loved? He’s told us: You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. Matt 22 Masses are offered for our brothers and sisters being purified to assist them in their purification since we belong to the same family of Christ and the “holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others. CCC #1475. This also involves the exchange of spiritual goods which derive chiefly from the Sacrifice of the Mass which is the same sacrifice as Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Recall that all sin has two consequences it either kills (mortal sin) or weakens (venial sin) the life of grace which is our union with God the Blessed Trinity. Even after forgiveness that sin leaves a wound. This wound is the unhealthy attachment to creatures which must be purified. In other words our love for God must be purified of rival loves which exist in opposition to Him and harm our relation with Him. Hence it is important that we pray for our deceased daily, offer sacrifices and indulgences for them, and assist them by having Masses offered for the repose of their souls. An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven, which the faithful Christian, duly disposed, can gain under certain prescribed conditions. It is either plenary or partial. The temporal punishment due to sin is an unhealthy attachment to creatures, the tendency to do the sin again.

We do not go it alone in our need to make up for our sins. Every Christian is joined to Christ but he or she is joined to all the other Christians who make up the Body of Christ, the family of the Church including those being purified in Purgatory and the angels and saints in heaven. Hence there is an everlasting link of love which joins all Christians together. In this exchange the holiness of one profits the other. This holiness includes Christ’s merits and all the spiritual goods of all the members of Christ’s Body especially the prayers and good works of the Virgin Mary and the saints. They are truly immense, and pristine in their value before God. The Church through her power to bind and loose in Christ’s name through an indulgence gives the Christian a special share in the holiness of the treasury of the Church to help heal his or her own wounds from sin but also to be applied to those of our family who are being purified in the afterlife in the state called purgatory. Hence indulgences involve shared love flowing from the mercy of God which heals.

The plenary indulgence heals all the wounds of our sins. The partial indulgences heal those wounds partially. Every day in our morning-prayer we should make the intention to God to gain any and all indulgences attached to our prayer, devotion, and good works. The Church grants indulgences for various activities or special occasions. A book called The Enchiridion of Indulgences contains many of the grants of indulgences to benefit the spiritual lives of Catholics. For example a plenary indulgence was granted for the public praying of the prayer Veni Creator Spiritus on January 1. However many Catholics (most?) don’t know about indulgences and/or why they are important for our spiritual lives. Sad to say indulgences are rarely preached about or referenced by the clergy. Nevertheless indulgences are part of the Catholic Faith and they form part of the instruction on the sacrament of confession. (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church #1471 and following.)

Recall that in approaching the sacrament of Confession three acts of the penitent are involved: (1) Contrition whereby the penitent expresses sorrow for sin. (NOTE: Perfect contrition arises from a love by which God is loved above all else. This forgives venial sins and it forgives mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to get to confession as soon as possible. Imperfect contrition is sorrow because of the ugliness of sin and the fear of punishment. This does not obtain the forgiveness of mortal sins but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in Confession.) (2) The confession of sins whereby all mortal sins must be recounted by number and kind to a priest. (NOTE: The confession of venial sins is strongly recommended by the Church. It is an act of humility. It helps to form the conscience, to fight against our evil tendencies. It gives healing from Christ and a greater share in God’s life. This is called a confession of devotion.) (3) Making satisfaction is the third act of the penitent. All sins even after forgiveness leave a wound to self and the Church. Absolution does not take away all the disorder sin has caused: harm to self and to neighbor. This must be healed in this life or in the life to come. This is why the penitent receives a penance from the priest in order to aid in the process of healing the wound of sin. To help heal the wound of sin the Church makes available indulgences to us.